Leganés is a city in central Spain. Part of the greater Madridconurbation - mainly a satellite-city with a population of 186,066 (1 January 2009) it is located about 11 km southwest of the city centre.

On 3 April 2004 Leganés achieved a measure of unwanted notoriety when five of the suspects in the 11 March 2004 Madrid attacks blew themselves up in an apartment building as police moved in to arrest them. All five were killed, along with one GEO police officer.

Leganés houses a branch of the Universidad Carlos III, founded in 1989, namely the Escuela Politecnica Superior (EPS) which offers Telecommunications Engineering, Industrial Engineering and Computer Engineering, among many other degrees. Universidad Carlos III is recognized as first-class in research and teaching among other universities in Spain. The other campuses of University Carlos III are situated in Getafe and Colmenarejo, however the one located in Leganés is the only one that has a sports centre. Leganés' student accommodation building is called Fernando Abril Martorell and has a capacity of 300 students.

It is connected to Madrid via the Cercanías (Train, line C5), and Metrosur, one of the lines of Metro. Leganés has 6 Metrosur stations.

Parquesur, in Leganés, built in the early 90's is currently one of the biggest shopping centres in Europe. It was completely refurbished and extended in 2005.

Leganés has a street named AC/DC in honor to the famous Australian rock band. The band visited Leganés in order to inaugurate the street. The street sign was frequently stolen until the council decided to paint it on the wall instead of replacing the sign over and over again. Nowadays, the sign can be bought at many local shops as a souvenir

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The city has a wide range of shops and family centres, especially surrounding the area of Parquesur. All of the neighborhoods have at least two big parks for recreation. The city is well known for the quality of its restaurants, most of them located in the downtown area or near parks like La Chopera.

The "Pista de Hielo" is a normal-size ice skating rink that trains people from all around Madrid in figure skating and ice hockey. It is also the venue for the Leganés ice hockey team. Along with the "Pista de Hielo", there are ten sports centres in the city (Polideportivo Europa, Los Frailes, Alfredo Di Stefano, Olimpia, Butarque, La Cantera). These centres have many facilities including basketball fields, soccer fields, athletics fields, gymnasiums, saunas, swimming pools and many others.

The city team is the Club Deportivo Leganés, currently playing in the Liga Adelante. Soccer is the most played sport in Leganés; Leganés being the second city after Madrid in terms of federated clubs in the Autonomous Community of Madrid.

Leganés also has an Official Languages School, in which the residents of the city can study English, French, German, Portuguese, Italian, Russian, or even Spanish (adapted for immigrants). The taxes of the school are paid by the Government of Madrid so that the residents only pay a single fee of 80 € a year for any of the languages. There are special discounts to students that study more than one language at the same time and for families that have more than one person studying at it as well.

Some of the neighborhoods also have a cultural centre. (San Nicasio, Centro, Zarzaquemada, El Carrascal)

The main hospital of Leganés is the Severo Ochoa Hospital, and there are many health care centres in each neighborhood. The city stands out for its research in mental illnesses. There is also one public orphanage, one retirement home and one centre dedicated to the disabled.